Frank ennis



F. ENNIS.

SPRING HINGE.

l'Ji'.aAzell'e Apr. 25,1893.

(No Model.)

Wvzesses:

Y s Pneus ce?. Pwormlrum WASHINGTON. D. c.

l lowing is a specification.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK ENNIS, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORKLASSIGNOR TO E. C. STEARNS & CO., OFSAME PLACE.

HINGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 495,965, dated April25, 1893.

Application filed October 28, 1891.

To all whom t may con/cern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK ENNIs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Spring-Hinges, of whichthe fol- This invention relates to that class of spring hinges in whicha coil spring is employed for holding the door both in an open and aclosed position and which are commonly known as hold-back hinges.I-Ieretofore the coil springs in these hinges were mounted upon afloating core for the purpose of holding the coils of the springs inalignment and parallel with the pintle line of the hinge.

The object of my invention is to utilize both the coil and the torsionalaction of the spring, thereby permitting the spring to move freely anddecreasing the resistance of the spring as the movable leaf approachesthe dead center.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of myimproved spring hinge applied to a door. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectionthereof in line -x Fig. 1 showing the door closed. Fig. 3 is a similarview showing the door open. Fig. 4. is a detached view of the springhinge showing the position of the parts when the hinge is partly open.Fig. 5 is a detached View of the coil spring showing its shape before itis attached to the leaves of the hinge.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

A B represent the leaves of the hinge, one of which is secured to thedoor cand the other to the jamb or door frame D. The leaves are providedat their inner edges with the usual outwardly projecting lugs e c whichare pivoted together by the pintles f.

g g represent two coil springs arranged between the lugs of the leavesand having their axes arranged parallel or nearly so with the pintleline of the hinge. The ends of each of these springs are formed intoarms f f2 by which the coils of the springs are wound up in opening orclosing the door. The innerarmsf of both springs are connected by a'wrist h which is arranged parallel with the pintle line and seated in asocket i formed Serial No. 410,049. (No model.)

centrally on the inner edge of the leaf A, lthereby pivoting theinnerarms of the springs to this leaf. The outer arms f2 of the springsare provided with inwardly extending wrists ,7' which are arrangedparallel with the pintle line and seated in sockets or eyes kk formed onthe inner edge of the leaf B. The pivots or wrists of the spring armsare so arranged with reference to the pintle linethat upon opening 6othe door the spring arms are caused to recede from each other until thedead center is reached, thereby straining the springs. Upon opening thedoor the initial movement causes the spring arms to wind up the coils ofthe springs. As the spring arms continue to recede from each other, thecoils are bent out of alignment with the pintle line, as represented inFig. 4, the outer ends of the coils being carried farther from thepintle line than 7o the inner ends. This causes each coil to act uponits inner spring arm like a lever and to subject this arm to a twistingor torsional strain whereby the coiling action is greatly reduced. Afterpassing the dead 'center the 75 spring arms and the leaves are drawntogether by the reaction of the springs until the latter are againstraightened out. In closing the door, the springs are again strained inthe same manner until the dead center is passed 8c when the springsagain expand and complete the closing movelnent of the door. It requiresmore power to coil the springs than to strain them torsionally. For thisreason the springs olfer the greatest resistance during the Iinitial 8 5portions of the opening or closing movements of the door and thisresistance decreases as the spring arms approach the dead center. Thepressure of the springs is therefore greater when the door is entirelyclosed or opened 9o than it is when the door is near the dead cen-x terand this causes the door to be held firmly when opened or closed butpermits the same to move easily after it has begun its opening orclosing movement.

In order to compel the initial portion of the opening and closingmovements of the door to coil the springs, rather than to twist thesame, the spring arms are strained in a direc tion opposite to that inwhich the torsional roo strain is applied. This is accomplished bybending the spring arms out of their normal positions in an outwarddirection, as repremal positions.

sented in Fig. 5, and then attaching the springs to the leaves which isaccomplished by springing the spring arms inwardly into their nor- Theoutward strain which is so applied to the spring arms opposes the inwardstrain caused by the torsional action and this opposition of forcesprevents the torsional strain from becoming active during the firstportion of the movement of the hinge and causes the coiling action topreponderate until this outward strain is Overcome by the increasingtorsional strain, when the coiling. action becomes less pronounced'andthe torsional action preponderates. The sockets or eyes which receivethe wrists of the outer spring arms are made very long so as to providelarge bearing surfaces inwhich the spring arms are firmly held. It isobvious that one of the coils maybe omitted but it is more desirable toVemploy both, as shown.

I claim vas my inventionl. In a hold-back hinge, the combination withthepivotally connected leaves,` cfa coil spring having its arms attached tothe leaves by fastenings in which the ends of said arms are confined andwhich compel said ends to move concentrically with reference to thepintle line, and'havingits coilarranged parallel with the pintle line ornearly so and free t0' be dcfiected out of this position, whereby thecoil is bodily detiected out of its normal position in moving the leaveson their pivots and a torsional strain is applied to said arms,substantially as set forth.

2. In a hold-back hinge, the combination with thevpivotally connectedleaves, of two 'coil springs arranged parallel with the pintle 3. Thecombination with the pivotally conf nected leaves ofa hinge, of a freecoil spring arranged parallel with the pintle line or nearly so andprovided at its ends with inwardly strained arms which are seated insaid sockets, whereby the spring is principally coiled FRANK ENNIS.Witnesses:

E. C. STEARNS, F. A. BRODHEAD, Jr.

